


Washed Ashore

by mantisdick



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Accidental Stabbing, Alien Biology, Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Alternate Universe - Royalty, Arranged Marriage, Bad Parenting, Cultural Differences, Forbidden Love, How Do I Tag, I failed geometry, Jealousy, Love Triangles, M/M, Mild Blood, Mild Hurt/Comfort, No Incest, Octopeople, Or maybe a love pentagon, Sexual Tension, Slow Burn, Underwater Politics, War, no actual aliens
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:22:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,918
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29771982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mantisdick/pseuds/mantisdick
Summary: This story is not about a war between two kingdoms but about the boys caught in the middle of it. Nico sneaks away from his responsibilities as the crown prince to stalk one of the most dangerous, blood-thirsty creatures in the ocean- but Percy Jackson isn't the one trying to kill him.
Relationships: Hazel Levesque/Frank Zhang, Jason Grace & Percy Jackson, Nico di Angelo & Will Solace, Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Comments: 1
Kudos: 12





	Washed Ashore

I had been collecting clams and mussels when I first laid eyes on Percy Jackson. 

He had been just a flash of green, a hint of brown skin, and then he was gone. 

After just a second of hesitation, I followed him. 

Back then I didn't know what he was, a sparkly fish maybe, but each day I got a little bit closer until I lost track of him and he disappeared. 

So I lied in wait, day after day, getting closer to where he was headed. I didn't know why I was suddenly obsessed with this sudden flash of colors, why I made it my personal mission to track this creature as fast and as discreetly as possible, but something about it called to me. 

And when I finally got far enough, swam fast enough, and saw him...

I realized he was gorgeous. More breathtaking than I could have ever guessed. I thought, with shaking hands and an open mouth, that he must have been a god of some sort. A deity from another world. But then recognition sparked its way into my stunned brain. 

This creature was a merman. 

The Merfolk never strayed so far from their territory and it was unheard of for them to linger in The In Between. 

But there was no mistaking him. The merman's tail was long and muscled and covered with shimmering green and blue scales from the tip of his fins to the swell of his ass. From there, his skin was smooth and sun-kissed on his sculpted stomach and chest. His biceps bulged, decorated with simple gold bands. His hair was brown, like mine, but that was where the resemblance stopped. It was cut short in the back and wild and messy on top. And it was lighter, bleached by the sun. And his eyes...

They were the sea itself brought to life. 

The mer swam up to an island and right before my eyes and dragged himself up. I hid behind a chunk of coral, crawling closer to the surface than I'd ever dared before to get a better look at him. I clenched the rocks around me with a fearful sort of vicarious thrill. I couldn't believe he was actually going above water!

The mer sunbathed. 

I don't know what I was expecting, for his tail to violently unfuse into two fleshy legs maybe, but the merman just sunbathed. He splashed his tail in the water and stared up at the sky without a care in the world. 

I wondered if his skin had darkened because of his sunbathing and if mine would too if I were to go up above. 

Some days he ate coconuts that he broke open himself. Other days he hunted for crabs that skittered across the sand. He would lie on his stomach and make strange noises, face pressed into the ground. The crabs would crawl up to him and then he would snatch them up, devouring them triumphantly. 

I watched him. 

Maybe it was creepy, but I ached for him. I rarely escaped the duties of the kingdom but when I did, I watched him. He was utterly gorgeous and entrancing and I found myself thinking often that I was nothing compared to his beauty. He fascinated me. Enthralled me. 

But he never really stayed long. 

Except for this one day. I’d been watching him flash through the ocean even faster than before, so quickly I almost thought I'd confused him with beams of sunlight filtering through the waves. But eventually, I found him in his usual sunbathing spot, still and quiet. 

I had gone as close as I dared with his back to me, feeling the water heat uncomfortably the closer I got to the surface. Anxiously, I waited. What was wrong with him? Did he need help? 

I had begun to harshly question my own questioning-- what could I possibly do to help if he was in fact injured or in pain-- when he finally made a noise, and his shoulders shook. 

I got closer still. 

Was he--yes. He was. The merman was crying. 

I swallowed thickly in my throat when I realized and something settled in my stomach like a pile of rocks. My merman was hurt and in pain and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I didn't like to think about the fact that there was something out there that could devastate a creature as beautiful and carefree as he. 

So I left. 

It was cowardly of me. If our roles had been reversed maybe he would have approached me. But I fled under the guise of affording him some privacy. 

When I arrived back at the palace, hiding in the shadows to slip in undetected, I found my father signing papers on his desk. I had to find out more about the merman and he was the fastest way to get some answers. Maybe I could even help him. The merman's shaking back and broken noises played like a muffled record in my head as I approached my father. The dark marbled floors were even colder than the gentle currents around me and I resisted the urge to hug myself. 

It looked like he had just finished conducting a royal meeting and the last of the diplomats were clearing out. I watched their pinched faces, their tight lips and wished for a fleeting, curious second that I knew more about my father's politics. 

"Nico. Can I help you?" Hades turned his dark eyes on me and I cast that errant thought from my head. 

Anxiety ran like an undercurrent in my veins. "Um, yes actually. Do you have a second? I was wondering how much you know about the merpeople in the territory next to ours." 

That drew his attention. I shrank under it, already regretting it but not quite ready to call it quits. "What do you want to know?"

I tugged absently at the strings that held my clothes together and a stern glance made me lower my hands and clench them tightly around each other. 

"Well… I mean..." What did I want to know? My senses were telling me it was time to panic.

Hades looked at me and something passed over his features, a quiet mixture of surprise and something like regret. "Come here, Nico."

I gulped and came closer. My father was enormous, easily ten times my size, but that wasn't necessarily what scared me. My father was an angry man and very prone to lash out. And I for one, was very prone to inspire his disapproval. 

I settled down next to him, curling my tentacles tightly under my body. 

He offered me a smile but it faltered as if realizing how out of place it was and disappeared. Hades cleared his throat instead. "What has that tutor of yours been teaching you?"

Uh oh. I licked my lips. Another nervous habit. "Um, Mrs. Castlevoni? We're studying algebra and calculus."

"... what? Algebra?"

"A-And calculus," I repeated unhelpfully. 

His tone was dangerous. "Why in the seven seas would she be teaching you that?"

"I asked her to. She said I had an affinity for it."

Hades drew himself up with irritation. "An affinity? Does she take orders from you now?"

I’d been stupid to think for even a second that he’d be proud of me. "It's temporary! We'll get back to the scheduled curriculum soon. I just wanted to know more about the subject--

"Nico, you're not training to be a scientist, you are training to be king. What use does a king have for algebra? I'm getting you a new tutor." 

No! I shot up from my perch, pushing myself to his eye level. "I come to you with a simple inquiry and you punish me for it? You punish me for not knowing what you are refusing to tell me?" I hated how my voice turned weak and wobbly and it just served to anger me more. "I will get my answers elsewhere. And replace Castlevoni, I don't care. I barely go to class anyway." 

I had gotten maybe five feet away before his voice boomed across the throne room, loud in a way that he never really was with his subordinates. Only with his son. 

"Sit down!"

It reverberated through my bones, shaking my teeth. I sat. 

Hades sighed, rubbing his face. 

I lowered my head but watched him out of my peripherals. He wasn't one to display weakness like that.

Hades finally turned to face me, his words clipped. “Nico. I should not have scolded you. Why do you want to know about the merfolk?”

My heart slowed at the admission and I settled down again. Maybe I would end up getting some answers after all. "Well, I saw a merman in the neutral zone and I just wondered--

"What?" My father's eyes widened. His tentacles tightened around their holds around his throne. "Those creatures are deadly."

I blinked. What happened? Had I already messed up? "Father, I--

"No.” His tone was steel. “I forbid you from going there again."

Things were escalating faster than I could keep up with. "But I--

"They will eat anything, Nico. And if you're in the neutral zone there's nothing to stop them from devouring you, defenseless as you are."

I clenched my jaw. Defenseless? 

My father tried to soften his tone. "Look, son. I know they might look pretty and friendly but--

"I am not an idiot." I spit, feeling humiliation burn with indignation. "I'm careful. And I'm not defenseless--

Suddenly, Hades sprung forward. I barely managed to flinch away before excruciating pain shot up my body. 

I yelped, fingernails digging into my father's arm as he twisted one of my tentacles. "Wha--Stop!" 

He didn't let up until I stopped struggling, tears pooling in my eyes. His eyes were cold. Serious. "Stay away from them, Nico."

I shot myself through the door. 

He shouted after me loud enough that I was sure that the entire castle could hear him. "Nico!"

The doors slammed shut behind me. I swam the fastest I could, past the guards and the gates, until I reached the neutral zone again. Then I let the tears spill like unruly sand down my face.

I squeezed myself into a corner between two enormous boulders, gasping and sobbing. 

I hated him. 

I hated that he was king and that I was prince. 

I hated that I had no friends and that my sister was dead. 

That my mother was gone. 

I hated the stupid merman and that I would never get to talk to him. 

I brushed my tears away furiously as well as I could in the tight space. Eventually, my breathing slowed and evened. I closed my eyes and leaned my head against one of the boulders, sniffling until I didn't need to anymore. 

A crab skittered away somewhere above me. 

I set my jaw. Enough. 

I wasn't a hatchling anymore.

My tentacle still stung where my father had gripped it but the pain wasn't as bad anymore. It had dulled and warmed rather than burned. 

I had to go back or else my father would send guards after me.

I wriggled out, sighing and composing myself. Running a hand through my tousled hair and patting my cheeks. 

Hopefully, no one had seen me slip out--

"There you are! I thought I might have scared you away for sure this time." 

I jumped. 

That voice...

It was the merman.

**Author's Note:**

> I'd appreciate any feedback! And excuse the tags, I don't know where this story is going. I do know it's going to be fun though.   
> :D thank you for reading.


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